March 1, 2016, NewsCrunch
The Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Lt Gen (Retd) Zameer Uddin Shah, has denied a report that Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani humiliated him at a meeting in January.
But Milli Gazette, which broke the story, categorically says it stands by its report.
Lt Gen Shah, a three star general, retired as the deputy chief of Indian Army.
Smriti Irani is reportedly against the AMU’s decision to set up five centres across the country and wants to shut them down. The Kerala government has already allotted 345 acres in Mallapuram and is concerned over the delay in setting up the centre.
A delegation of top Kerala politicians led by Chief Minister Ooman Chandy met Smriti Irani on January 8 to press for early clearance of the centre.
According to Milli Gazette, Smriti Irani objected to Lt Gen Shah’s presence when he entered the room and asked why he had come.
Lt Gen Shah replied that he had come at the invite of the Kerala CM.
She got angry and snubbed him by allegedly saying: “Who pays your salary? Kerala CM or the HRD Ministry? Go back and sit in your room!”
The humiliated VC exited the room quickly and a stunned Chandy looked on in disbelief, reported
Milli Gazette.
Smriti Irani also told the Kerala delegation that the VC had overshot his powers in proposing to set up the AMU centres. She also said she would shut down the centres and asked Kerala to take back the land at Mallapuram.
The Quint did a follow-up to the story on Tuesday. Lt Gen Shah said he was not present at the meeting but somewhat ambivalently asked to reporter to check with the Kerala Chief Minister’s office, which declined to comment.
The VC further confirmed that Smriti Irani was against the AMU centres but said he intended to push forward.
But Milli Gazette told The Quint that it was standing by its story and was ready to face any official commission of enquiry.
It said the report did not intend to insult Lt Gen Shah because such a behaviour only demeans the person committing it…
